`METROPOLIS' ADAPTATION OPENS RENOVATED OLYMPIC THEATRE

Lawrence BommerCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Tonight the future meets the past as London's high-tech musical "Metropolis" marks the triumphant return of the newly renovated Olympic Theatre. A grand 1920s movie palace that had fallen into neglect for decades, this Cicero landmark has been painstakingly restored to its former glory. Even better, it has nothing to do with Al Capone.

Appropriately, its first production is based on a film classic from the same silent-screen era that launched the theater. Fritz Lang's futuristic nightmare depicts a world depleted of all natural resources, with humans split into masters and slaves, the latter toiling below for the elite who live in the "Metropolis" above.

Performing the 1989 musical by Joseph ("You Light Up My Life") Brooks is a cast of 32, directed by Dante Orfei, who presented the work's first American performance at Cicero's Morton College. The present performance is produced by Futura Productions in association with Metropolis Ltd.

"Beggar's Holiday," Friday, Pegasus Players, 1145 W. Wilson Ave.; 312-271-2638: Pegasus launches its sweet 16th season with a rarity, Duke Ellington's 1947 musical, here revived with a new script by Dale Wasserman. Presented for the first time by a jazz band (rather than the conventional Broadway pit band that debuted the progressive work), "Beggar's Holiday" is a vintage American musical satire. Based on John Gay's delightful "Beggar's Opera" (the source for Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's "Threepenny Opera"), it skewers contemporary mores and the legal system. Pegasus' reconstruction has been pieced together from Ellington's notes.

"The Elvis," Friday, Raven Theatre, 6931 N. Clark St.; 312-338-2177: A "cartoon with music" from the author of the long-running slice-of-satire "Hellcab," Will Kern's new work is a musical collaboration, with composer Shawn Letts and J.B. Skye, that spins a modern-day allegory.

Set in a mythic universe where contemporary legends and classical heroes meet and clash, the musical literally carries celebrity worship to the skies. In "The Elvis" the title character loves Jackie O. but Zeus lusts for her too, and his jealous wife, Hera, seeks revenge. Homage to "The King," the music behind the mayhem ranges from rockabilly to ballads and blues, even featuring an Eastern dance in the modern Iranian tradition. Michael Menendian directs a cast of 12.

"Ape and Chimp Show," Sunday, Zeppo Productions at Factory Theater, 1257 W. Loyola Ave.; 312-274-1345: This original comedy revue written and performed by Greg Rice and George Brant deals with such calamities as "unrest in our cities, the crisis in Haiti and the third extension of `Defending the Caveman.' "

"Cole Porter-No Regrets," Sunday, Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave.; 312-935-6100: A Chicago premiere, this one-man show celebrates the life and music of Broadway's most sophisticated composer-writer. Former Motown record producer Don Powell takes audiences on a journey through the often pain-wracked life of the creator of "Anything Goes" and "Kiss Me Kate," interweaving 34 songs into a chronicle of Porter's sophisticated life: his origins in Peru, Ind.; his education at Yale; his Broadway career; and the crippling accident he suffered while riding a favorite horse.

"Forever Plaid," Tuesday, Royal George Cabaret Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted St.; 312-988-9000: A tribute to the "guy groups" of the 1950s and 1960s, "Forever Plaid," first performed here at Wisdom Bridge Theatre, traces the aborted career of a fictional "semi-pro" harmony group, "The Four Plaids," their rise cut short in 1964 by an unfortunate accident on the night of their first gig. Now these literal teen angels are given one last chance to do the show they never got to perform in life. Written, directed and choreographed by Stuart Ross, the show's original creator, the revival features an all-Chicago cast of Scot Fedderly, Fred Goudy, Sean Krill and Greg Walter.

Based on Sergei Kaledin's 1988 short story, "Gaudeamus" depicts the end of the Soviet era as seen by the Soviet Army's labor force from the young recruits' first drill to their last order. The play, which abounds with sex, alcohol, drugs, violence and debauchery, consists of 19 improvisations performed on a snowy raked platform with 26 trap doors and a flying piano.